The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

founded in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. An

enclosed religious order Enclosed religious orders are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. The term ''cloistered'' is synonymous with ''enclosed''. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the cod ...

, its main apostolate is helping the needy and the sick, inspired by the work of

Saint Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...

and

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order. Bernard was ...

. Their traditional habit, in the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

tradition, was a white tunic with a black veil and

scapular A scapular () is a Western Christian garment suspended from the shoulders. There are two types of scapulars, the monastic and devotional scapular; both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular". As an object of popular piety, a scapular ...

. The

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of the order is Sr. Lucy Jacob Palliampallithara, who is based in the global headquarters in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium.

History

On 4 November 1803, the Congregation was founded by the Rev.

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Peter Joseph Triest, the pastor of

Lovendegem Lovendegem () is a town and former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the province of East Flanders. The municipality comprised the towns of Lovendegem proper and Vinderhoute. I ...

at that time. Triest, who was to found two other religious institutes for the relief of the poor, recruited a group of young women, from among whom the co-foundress Mother Placida van der Gauwen came. Mother Placida later became the first Mother Superior of the congregation. In the late 19th century, they established missions in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

(1892),

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

(1896) and

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(1897). They were also invited to open a house in England by Cardinal

Herbert Vaughan Herbert Alfred Henry Joseph Thomas Vaughan (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. ...

. In 2018, two convents in the Congo were attacked and robbed by armed men.

In popular culture

From this congregation came Marie Louise Habets (Sister Xaverine), who served as the basis for Sister Luke / Gabrielle Van der Mal, the protagonist of the 1956

Kathryn Hulme Kathryn Cavarly Hulme (January 6, 1900 – August 25, 1981) was an American novelist and memoirist. Writing Hulme is known for her best-selling 1956 novel ''The Nun's Story'', which was adapted into an Academy Awards, award-winning The Nun ...

novel ''

The Nun's Story ''The Nun's Story'' is a 1956 novel by Kathryn Hulme. It was a Book of the Month selection and reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Premise The lead character of the book, Sister Luk ...

''. Her character was later portrayed by

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

in the 1959 film adaptation of the book.''Zoë Fairbairns' The Nun's True Story''
/ref>

References

External links

International website of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary

Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{Authority control Religious institutes in the Vincentian tradition Catholic nursing orders Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century Catholic female orders and societies 1803 establishments in Europe Lovendegem

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links